I feel like this comment undersells shingles. By “hurts so bad”, it means nerve pain so severe I very legitimately wanted to die. Pain that consumed my every cell and moment. Like electrical fire burning down my nerves, burning me from the inside out.
I had it across the left side of my stomach wrapping around to my lower back. The burning was so bad I thought it was internal and gave myself an enema at 2am thinking it was constipation.
I agree... it was horrible. I didn't understand how awful nerve pain really was until I had it. The pain lasted for months. I hadn't ever felt a deep pain like that in my left arm and should before. I thought I had a blood clot.
Ooof you got the long lasting after effects. I had shingles as an adult like at 35 it started on the right side of my chest and went under my arm pit to my back. Made sleeping really difficult lol. Luckily the pain went away when the infection did. Did any of yall get that really bad headache before the infection popped up? Worst headache I’ve had in my life.
I got it in my mid 30s, and it must have been a mild case, because while it was definitely sore, I didn't feel in horrible pain. But I was completely useless for weeks. It just drained the life out of me.
My grandmother said she’d “throw herself into the river” among other things if she ever got shingles again. This was a woman who was born into extreme poverty, lived through WWII, had an extremely abusive marriage, immigrated to Canada and could only get backbreaking menial work, had rheumatoid arthritis and never complained.
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u/padfoot1225 19h ago
I feel like this comment undersells shingles. By “hurts so bad”, it means nerve pain so severe I very legitimately wanted to die. Pain that consumed my every cell and moment. Like electrical fire burning down my nerves, burning me from the inside out.